US8902832B2ActiveUtilityPatentIndex 71
Techniques for supporting harmonized co-existence of multiple co-located body area networks
Est. expiryAug 11, 2028(~2.1 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
H04W 56/0015H04W 16/14H04W 56/0045H04B 13/005H04W 80/02H04W 84/18H04W 74/04
71
PatentIndex Score
4
Cited by
4
References
15
Claims
Abstract
A method ( 400 ) for coordinating access to a wireless medium among multiple co-located body area networks (BANs). The method comprises detecting, by a master device of a first BAN, at least one alien BAN using beacons received from at least one co-located BAN, wherein an alien BAN is a BAN having its round start time (RST) misaligned with a RST of the first BAN (S 410 ); recording a RST offset between the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN (S 420 ); based on the RST offset determining which of the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN is an initiator BAN and which is a target BAN (S 430 ); and realigning the RST of the initiator BAN with the RST of the target BAN (S 460 ).
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modifiedThe invention claimed is:
1. A method for coordinating access to a wireless medium among multiple co-located body area networks (BANs), each BAN including a plurality of slave devices and a plurality of master devices arranged in a two-tier architecture, the method comprising,
detecting, by a master device of a first BAN, at least one alien BAN using beacons received from at least one co-located BAN, wherein an alien BAN is a BAN where a round start time (RST) is misaligned with a RST of the first BAN;
recording a RST offset between the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN;
based on the RST offset, determining which of the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN is an initiator BAN and which is a target BAN; and
realigning, by all master devices belonging to the initiator BAN, the RST of the initiator BAN with the RST of the target BAN.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
setting a realignment offset field, wherein the realignment offset field indicates a positive amount of time that all master devices in the initiator BAN delay their RSTs to align with a RST of the target BAN; and
setting a countdown variable to indicate a time when the realignment of the initiator BAN with the target BAN is triggered.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first BAN is determined to be the initiator BAN when a RST of the at least one alien BAN falls within the first half of a superframe of the first BAN.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RST is a start time of a round time, and wherein the time round includes a plurality of superframes and each superframe includes a plurality of time slots.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the realignment offset field is included in a global beacon and transmitted to all master devices in the initiator BAN.
6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the value of the countdown variable is identical for all master devices in the initiator BAN.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein an alien BAN with the largest RST offset is determined to be the target BAN, when multiple alien BANs were detected.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein one or more time slots are allocated for a global beacon period of a co-located BAN, and wherein during the global beacon period master devices of the co-located BAN transmit global beacons.
9. The method of claim 4 , further comprising dividing time slots available for medium access reservation into time zones, wherein each BAN among the at least one co-located BAN owns a predetermined number of time slots.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the realignment of the RSTs ensures at least synchronization among superframes of co-located BANs and non-overlapping among global beacon periods of co-located BANs.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the realignment of the RSTs ensures non-overlapping between time zones owned by the initiator BAN and time zones owned by the at least one co-located BAN.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein global beacon periods of co-located BANs are separated by at least two superframes.
13. A method for coordinating access to a wireless medium among multiple co-located body area networks (BANs), the method comprising,
detecting, by a master device of a first BAN, at least one alien BAN using beacons received from at least one co-located BAN, wherein an alien BAN is a BAN where a round start time (RST) is misaligned with a RST of the first BAN;
recording a RST offset between the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN;
based on the RST offset, determining which of the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN is an initiator BAN and which is a target BAN; and
realigning the RST of the initiator BAN with the RST of the target BAN, wherein the RST is a start time of a round time, and wherein the time round includes a plurality of superframes and each superframe includes a plurality of time slots;
the method further comprising dividing time slots available for medium access reservation into time zones, wherein each BAN among the at least one co-located BAN owns a predetermined number of time slots, wherein the number of time zone reserved for a BAN is determined as follows:
Zones
entitled
to
BAN
[
i
]
=
max
{
1
,
⌊
Total
Zones
Colocated
BANs
determined
by
BAN
[
i
]
⌋
}
.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the number of reserved time zones for each BAN can be dynamically changed.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code, when executed, causing a processor to perform a process of coordinating access to a wireless medium among multiple co-located body area networks (BANs), each BAN including a plurality of slave devices and a plurality of master devices arranged in a two-tier architecture, the process comprising,
detecting, by a master device of a first BAN, at least one alien BAN using beacons received from at least one co-located BAN, wherein an alien BAN is a BAN where a round start time (RST) is misaligned with a RST of the first BAN;
recording a RST offset between the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN;
based on the RST offset, determining which of the first BAN and the at least one alien BAN is an initiator BAN and which is a target BAN; and
realigning, by all master devices belonging to the initiator BAN, the RST of the initiator BAN with the RST of the target BAN.Cited by (0)
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